Unusual road conditions such as lane closures or detours for construction work require that traffic warning and control measures be put in place, usually the posting of appropriate warnings and speed limits. Barricades are commonly used to demark a closed traffic lane or road hazard. While a sign may be posted at the barricade, good traffic safety practice requires that a warning notice, and usually a reduced speed limit, should be posted alongside the roadway, well ahead of the hazard. This information should be in a highly visible display and conspicuously placed, closer to the path of traffic than the norm for permanently installed roadside signs.
Road construction projects are a good example of situations that require temporary warning signs. The ubiquitous orange traffic cones help greatly in marking lane changes and hazard boundarys, even supplanting barricades to some extent. Traffic cones are light weight, easy to handle and inexpensive. Moreover, they are resilient so as to tolerate traffic abuse, and cars or trucks can contact them without risking significant damage. Since they cannot convey information except by their presence, traffic cones are an imperfect warning system at best. Presently available temporary signs are much the same as their permanently installed siblings, except for being mounted on a hard portable base, with or without wheels, or a weighted stand. Thus, there continues to be a need for a high visibility information display suitable for temporary installation, close to the path of traffic.
Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for display of roadway information, such as warnings, speed limits and the like, in a form that is highly visible and capable of being placed close to the path of traffic. A second object is that such apparatus be in a form that does not pose an additional hazard by its very proximity to the path of traffic. A third object is to provide such apparatus in a form that is resilient, so as to be tolerant of traffic abuse. A fourth object is that such display apparatus be in a form that is relatively light in weight and easy to handle and another object is that this apparatus provide an avenue for the recycling of srcap tires and conveyor belting, items that presently have few useful applications and pose a problem for waste disposal operations.